Riveria’s long jade hair swayed, and she felt a terrible headache as she looked at the Status update sheet Loki had given her.
“How long has it been since her last update?”
“The last time I did it was before the fight in Knossos, so around two weeks?” Loki answered easily.
“Absurd.”
An increase of over 1,100 points across all of her stats.
The clearing of Knossos was a massive battle that was nigh unheard of, but these were not normal numbers for a Level 4 mage to achieve in half a month. Even an expedition down to the deep floors would not have caused such dramatic changes.
Riveria stared at the numbers in the home office.
“I imagine most of the excelia came from the battle in Knossos, but…”
“Aye, you can see the training is showin’ results. Bete really isn’t holding back more than the bare minimum. It isn’t exactly fighting with Udaeus every day…but at her level, it’s not far off, either.”
Finn and Gareth calmly assessed the numbers as Riveria furrowed her shapely eyebrows.
As has been repeated several times, the battle in Knossos could safely be called an unprecedented fight to the death. There was no knowing just how much excelia had been gained by those who survived.
In Lefiya’s case, she was adding in serious training with Bete, a first-tier adventurer, on top of it.
It wasn’t hard to believe that her brutal training, which was no different from going into battle every day, would lead to extraordinary growth.
“That much is clear. Even so, it is going too far.”
But Riveria’s brows remained deeply furrowed at that.
Even if she had just leveled up and the range of her stat growth from here would shrink, it was still like seeing a certain Record Holder.
“That’s our Lefiya! She should leave that cocky shrimp’s kid in her dust!”
Riveria’s staff immediately slammed down on her patron goddess’s head.
“Wagh?!”
Ignoring Loki writhing in pain on the ground, the high elf who was Lefiya’s true master sighed deeply.
It was undeniably incredible growth—the manifestation of a determination to claw her way up even if her fingernails broke or tore away.
Right now, Lefiya had slipped the bonds of self-restraint.
“As a familia, it’s welcome news. Several others have grown significantly, too.”
“Sharon, Olba, and Arcus reached Level Four…and Anakity Level Five. Across the board, everyone who fought the demi-spirit directly leveled up.”
As Finn and Gareth said, Loki Familia had seen significant growth as a result of their recent quest.
Almost all the Level 2 members had reached Level 3, and more than half of the Level 3s had reached Level 4. Anakity had reached Level 5, which was particularly significant. She was Loki Familia’s eighth first-tier adventurer.
Much like the massive wall separating lower-class adventurers from upper-class adventurers, there was a seemingly insurmountable gap between second- and first-tier adventurers. The simple fact that there were not forty first-tier adventurers in all of Orario highlighted just how high that wall was.
They had even heard word that Anakity, who usually played the cool and collected beauty, had clenched her fists and let her tail swing excitedly when she found out, looking quite pleased with herself.
They had had a similar exchange the other day.
“Finn, you gonna consider Aki for a leadership position?” Loki asked.
“No…let’s put a pin in that for now. I knew it already, but seeing how she handled things during everything that happened with the Xenos brought it home again just how well balanced she is.”
He was referring to his announcement of their joining forces with the Xenos during the attack on Knossos.
At that moment, when others were shouting in anger and reproach, she had questioned him calmly, which had become the impetus for bringing the familia together again.
“She’ll be a flexible bridge between us and the rest of the familia. She can see things well from the perspective of the strong and the weak. As long as she doesn’t mind it, I’ll have her carry the midlevels of the familia with Raul and them.”
Finn clearly valued Anakity’s discretion, which none of the other first-tier adventurers had, not even himself. Loki generally left familia management to them anyway, so she accepted their decision with a breezy okay.
Changing subjects, the reserve force during the second assault on Knossos—Raul, Alicia, Cruz, Narfi, and the other Level 4s in the team that had rescued Demeter Familia—would have to wait for their next chance to level up. Raul, who joined at the same time as Anakity, had drawn a few smiles when they saw how his shoulders had drooped at the news.
“We’re gonna have to think of a flashy ole celebration for y’all, too.”
Loki, who had been rolling around on the floor, brushed off the dust and smirked as they answered with weary smiles.
“Lefiya is more important,” Riveria responded, as if unhappy that the original conversation had been derailed.
Circling back to her concerns, she looked around at them.
“It isn’t just her training with Bete. She is practicing releasing her magic power before sunrise and meditating at night.”
“And spending all her free time in the Dungeon, huh…”
“I’ve heard Elfie and Alicia and some others have been goin’ along with her…but maybe it is a bit too much cramming.”
“It not being so obviously reckless makes it hard to address. She’s calm on the surface and inside, making it hard to persuade her. She’s thinking it through before acting.”
Riveria, Finn, Loki, and Gareth all spoke.
Raul and the others had tried to talk with Lefiya, but when they got into the nitty-gritty of the scheduling, the numbers, and the fundamental reasoning behind everything they were apparently outdebated. Raul apparently got so worked up that he had tears in his eyes.
“The brakes deities speak of appear to have been cut.”
“It wasn’t so different for us when we came to Orario and experienced our baptism.”
“All the same. This is too extreme.” Riveria shook her head and closed her eyes. “…The worst part is that Lefiya can continue this for some time yet.”
There was a tone of certainty to her voice. Hiding a pained, pensive feeling in her brow, she continued.
“Having experienced failure once, those who stand back up can embrace the hardships and press on. They can keep running, even as it wears down their body and soul. Because they know now that there is something more bitter, more painful than dying without achieving their goal.”
“…That’s true. Now Lefiya has the security…no, the resolve to not give up halfway. Regret is becoming the thing that fuels her.”
Gareth nodded at Riveria’s assessment.
The elf and dwarf stared into the distance, recalling one particular moment from the past.
“The younger Aiz all over again.”
Riveria could see Aiz’s familiar shadow on Lefiya’s face. Even in the present day, Aiz still had her moments of recklessness, but she had improved a lot. The fact that Riveria had said the same thing was happening again instead of saying Lefiya was just like Aiz showed how deeply concerned she was.
“So it’s not just Aiz. You’re Lefiya’s mama, too, huh, Riveria?”
“Do not taunt me, Loki. I am being serious here.”
She did not bother entertaining with her goddess’s joke. It was the other side of her concerns with Lefiya. Because she had clashed with the young Aiz countless times and almost made mistakes several times, she could see the danger in Lefiya’s current behavior. From a different perspective, and speaking from a different position, even though they didn’t say it openly, they all shared Riveria’s opinion.
“Well, it’s true Lefiya ain’t all right…It’s even worse than the old Aiz in some ways.” Loki crossed her arms with a pensive sigh.
She usually left all the work to them without doing anything herself, but now that she decided to do a little bit of work for once, she let her mind get to work… Then her lips curled into a smile.
“All right, just leave Lefiya to me. I’ve got an idea.”
“…Truly?”
“I mean it, I mean it. I’m a bit curious about her, and that should be just perfect for her.”
Loki flashed an okay sign as Riveria stared at her, unsure whether it was actually safe to trust her.
“It will have to wait just a bit, but I’ve got a trick up my sleeve. The real reason is I just don’t wanna go to that dumbass’s place…but at least I can put him to some use,” Loki boldly declared, as if she were delivering an oracle. “I’ll have Lefiya be our recruiter when the School District comes in a month.”